Innovative Production Machines and Systems Conference - Sustainable Manufacturing

Well done all!

iwilliams — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:42:45 +0100

With three days to go this session is still bustling, a big thank you to all authors and visitors who have actively participated in this session of the conference and other sessions.

Let keep the discussions going!!!

Welcome to IPROMS 2006 Sustainable Manufacturing Session

iwilliams — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:01:23 +0100

Dear Participants,

Welcome to the Sustainable Manufacturing Session of IPROMS 2006 virtual conference. My name is Adebayo Williams, your co-chairman for this session.

In this session you will find papers dealing with technologies and strategies for creating sustainable manufacturing organisations. Please feel free to download any of the papers and to actively take part in the conference discussions. The authors are eager to get your useful comments.

Traceability Requirements in Electronics Assembly

soroka — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 13:57:51 +0100

M Ford, J. D. Triggs

The increasing requirement for traceability in Electronics, PCB (Printed Circuit Board Assembly are reviewed, and the key reasons for traceability are outlined. The basic schema for traceability grading is introduced, and the most successful means of achieving it are suggested.

Roadmapping as a Strategic Manufacturing Tool

soroka — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:49:07 +0100

The way in which European industry competes and operates is changing rapidly. The drivers which force this change can come form many different sources, these may include a customer’s need for mass customised products where the highest quality, lowest product cost and consistent and reliable delivery is expected as the norm, through to the strategic pressures exerted by low labour cost countries where product quality is generally good but unit costs are significantly lower. In this instance it can be difficult for a company especially an SME, to decide which strategic direction to take in order to remain sustainable in the future. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview to academics and practitioners of the key, current and future manufacturing management technologies and strategies that will enable European manufacturing industry to compete on the world stage and to remain sustainable in the future. This review will be facilitated through the development of a conceptual Roadmap which clearly highlights the critical deficiencies in current manufacturing systems and provides an approach to resolving such problems through active research into technological and strategic management systems.

Key Technologies and Strategies for Creating Sustainable Manufacturing Organisations.

soroka — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:47:31 +0100

Manufacturing has changed radically over the course of the last 20 years and rapid changes are certain to continue. The emergence of new manufacturing technologies, spurred by intense competition, will lead to dramatically new products and processes. New management and labour practices, organizational structures, and decision-making methods emerge as complements to new products and processes. This paper is aimed at providing an overview of the current State of the Art technologies, systems and paradigms currently operational in industry today, with a special emphasis on production and operation management. It identifies the drivers which instigate a step change in manufacturing developments. The paper then goes onto describing some of the Key Enabling Features (KEFs) which are deemed necessary for European based manufacturing industries to remain productive and profitable in 2020.

An Integrated Approach to TPM and Six Sigma Development in the Castings Industry.

soroka — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:45:44 +0100

Both Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Six Sigma are key business process strategies which are employed by companies to enhance their manufacturing performance. However, whilst there is significant research information available on implementing these systems in a sequential manner, there is little information available relating to the integration of these approaches to provide a single and highly effective strategy for change in companies.

Characterising SME Attitudes to Technological Innovation.

soroka — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:43:55 +0100

The way in which UK manufacturing companies operate is changing rapidly. The requirement for mass customisation of product lines along with the need to ensure high product quality, low product cost and consistent and reliable delivery is placing increasing pressure on UK manufacturing industry. Many larger manufacturing industries in the UK are responding quickly to these pressures by developing leaner, flexible and technologically advanced and intelligent manufacturing systems. The problem however, is that there is much evidence to suggest that SMEs do not implement and subsequently develop Advanced and Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies (AIMT) at a rate that will enable them to remain sustainable in the future.

On the importance of maintenance costing

soroka — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:42:26 +0100

This paper presents the use of different approaches to costing management activities and relates these for the purpose of maintenance costing. A combination of the Activity-Based Costing methodology with discrete event simulation is introduced to attain more accurate estimations concerning the allocation of shared indirect maintenance cost to an individual machine and thereby the overall allocation of overheads to the product cost of outputs from the machine. The importance of maintenance costing is underlined by showing its relevancy in the context of the total cost of ownership analysis, product costing, and maintenance improvement.

The design of a sustainable manufacturing system: A case study of its importance to product variety manufacturing

ramakumarj — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:40:36 +0100

A key challenge for manufacturers is to not only design but manufacture products using a sustainable approach. Manufacturing industries have started recognising that it is their responsibility to design a sustainable manufacturing system which has less environmental impact and social disruptions and promotes wealth. This paper presents a case for adapting current manufacturing system design methods to include environmental issues. A case study is presented which uses an environmental process selection method to demonstrate how companies can transform into sustainable practices in a large product variety environment. One of the key results is that the technology capability and economic risk are the two main factors which prevent a company to adopt sustainable manufacturing.

Maximising the Effectiveness of Introducing Advanced Technologies

soroka — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:38:08 +0100

In the face of increasing competition, manufacturing companies have to consider new methods of increasing the value of their products. Improved production efficiency to reduce costs, and higher product specification to raise levels of quality are needed to maintain existing business. It is often perceived among the inexperienced SMEs around the UK that investment in new technology and intelligent systems is the easiest, yet the most expensive, solution. However, this is often not the case when, and only when, a company undertakes extensive work to research, plan and manage technology implementation it is possible to select equipment which will enhance almost every aspect of a company’s performance. However, without this work, new technology can not only confound a previously well organised operation but also incur high running costs and a long payback time. This paper outlines a generic approach to implementing new technology, identifies the keys to its success and how further sustainable growth can be achieved when new technology implementation is considered part of a company-wide strategy.